French authorities are getting nervous that the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in magazine Charlie Hebdo may result in violent backlashes.

The cartoons have just been published in satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo, and there is little doubt that they will cause further outrage among Muslims who have already been protesting against an anti-Islamic film.

Thus far, at least 30 people, including eight South Africans, have lost their lives in demonstrations against the Innocence of Muslims film in more than 20 countries.

The last time Charlie Hebdo had a dig at Islam, its Paris offices were fire-bombed.

That attack last year was blamed on an edition “guest-edited” by the Prophet Mohammed that it called Sharia Hebdo.

The cover of the latest edition shows a Muslim man in a wheelchair pushed by an Orthodox Jew with foil cap, under the title “Untouchables 2”, an imaginary sequel to a recent French film.

The pair are roughly saying, “You must not mock us!” Apparently, there are more shocking cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad inside the magazine, “in daring positions”, as well as the back page reportedly featuring a nude caricature of the Prophet.

The latest cover of Charlie Hebdo

Agence France-Presse reported a short while ago:

France will close its embassies and schools in around 20 countries on Friday because of fears of a hostile reaction to a magazine’s publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius earlier announced that he had ordered special security measures “in all the countries where this could pose a problem.”

Fabius admitted that he was “concerned” by the potential for a backlash to satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo’s printing of a series of cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), against a background of violent protests in the Muslim world over an anti-Islam film.

The magazine’s editor, originally a cartoonist who uses the name Charb, denied he was being deliberately provocative:

The freedom of the press, is that a provocation? I’m not asking strict Muslims to read Charlie Hebdo, just like I wouldn’t go to a mosque to listen to speeches that go against everything I believe.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault issued a statement expressing his “disapproval of all excesses”.

French leadership said it will not allow a planned protest in Paris on Saturday against the film to go ahead.

Mr Ayrault told French radio RTL:

There’s no reason for us to let a conflict that doesn’t concern France come into our country. We are a republic that has no intention of being intimidated by anyone.

[Source: Sky]